Geology and K-Ar dating of the Tuxtla Volcanic Field,Veracruz, Mexico

The Tuxtla Volcanic Field (TVF) is located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the southern part of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Volcanism began about 7 my ago, in the Late Miocene, and continued to recent times with historical eruptions in ad 1664 and 1793. The oldest rocks occur as highly eroded remnants of lava flows in the area surrounding the historically active cone of San Martín Tuxtla. Between about 3 and 1 my ago, four large composite volcanoes were built in the eastern part of the area. Rocks from these structures are hydrothermally altered and covered with lateritic soils, and their northern slopes show extensive erosional dissection that has widened preexisting craters to form erosional calderas. The eastern volcanoes are composed of alkali basalts, hawaiites, mugearites, and benmoreites, with less common calc-alkaline basaltic andesites and andesites. In the western part of the area, San Martín Tuxtla Volcano and its over 250 satellite cinder cones and maars produced about 120 km³ of lava over the last 0.8 my. A ridge of flank cinder cones blocked drainage to the north to form Laguna Catemaco. Lavas erupted from San Martín and its flank vents are restricted to compositions between basanite and alkali basalt. The alignment of major volcanoes and flank vents along a N55°W trend suggests an extensional stress field in the crust with a minimum compressional stress orientation of N35° E. In total, about 800 km³ of lava has been erupted in the TVF in the last 7 my. This gives a magma output rate of about 0.1 km³/1000 year, a value smaller than most composite cones, but similar to cinder cone fields that occur in central Mexico. Individual eruptions over the last 5000 years had volumes on the order of 0.1km³, with average recurrence intervals of 600 years. The alkaline compositions of the TVF lavas contrast markedly with the calc-alkaline compositions erupted in the subduction-related Mexican Volcanic Belt to the west, leading previous workers to suggest that the TVF is not related to subduction. Trace-element signatures of TVF lavas indicate, however, that they are probably related to subduction. We suggest that the alkaline character of the TVF lavas is the result of low degrees of melting of a mantle source coupled with a stress regime that allows these small-volume melts to reach the surface in the TVF.     

Post-eruptive development of the Ukinrek East Maar since its eruption in 1977 A.D. in the periglacial area of south-west Alaska

Maar eruptions form small initially steep‐walled basins that contain important archives for the climatic and palaeoenvironmental history in continental areas. The two Ukinrek Maars in south‐western Alaska erupted between 30 March and 9 April 1977 and are the best‐documented maars that have erupted in historical time. This study presents a preliminary analysis of geomorphology, hydrology, magnetic susceptibility, geochemistry and sedimentology data of a field study in August 2004. These results, photographs and topographic surveys are combined for reconstructing the post‐eruptive evolution of Ukinrek East Maar. Within less than 30 years the initially polygonal shape of the crater with nearly vertical crater walls has developed into an almost elliptic form with slopes of 35° inclination on debris fans between a few escarpments. The water table and the crater floor have risen significantly and the crater diameter:depth ratio increased from 3·4 to 5·7, whereas the average height of the crater rim remained almost constant. The main sub‐aerial resedimentation process is formation of rock falls, rock slumps and scree resulting in debris flows and turbidites within the lake that is ice‐covered throughout about half of the year. Distal lake sediments consist of laminated minerogenic clayey‐sandy silts that document frequent turbidity currents. From the linear sedimentation rate of only ca 5 mm year^?1 in 17 cm long cores it may be concluded that the largest portion of the crater sediments formed within the first few months of the maar history, however, this has to be confirmed by future studies.     

内蒙古东部晚第四纪玛珥式火山的堆积序列及喷发过程研究

随着全球火山研究的深入,地质学家在大多数火山群中均发现了特殊成因的玛珥式火山。以低平火山口和低矮锥体著称的玛珥式火山主要由具有爬升层理、平行层理、大型低角度交错层理等结构构造的基浪堆积物组成,是火山喷发演化过程研究的重要对象。近年来,在内蒙古东部的诺敏河、阿尔山-柴河和阿巴嘎火山群中也先后发现了典型的玛珥式火山及基浪堆积物。本文从野外火山地质特征着手,以火山学与火山地质学理论为指导,结合国内外玛珥式火山的研究成果,对内蒙古东部晚第四纪玛珥式火山的分布、产物和结构构造等火山地质特征进行了归纳总结,将其大致划分为3个喷发期次,分别是以基浪堆积物为主的射汽-岩浆爆发、以降落-溅落堆积物为主的岩浆喷发和以碱性橄榄玄武岩为主的岩浆溢流期次。复合火山的活动时代总体属于晚更新世,其中玛珥式火山的形成时代为晚更新世早中期。通过分析研究区的地层、火山产物和区域断裂构造等地质特征,推断射汽-岩浆爆发的深度较浅,并进一步探讨了玛珥式火山的成因机制,模拟其喷发演化过程,认为玛珥式火山与斯通博利式、夏威夷式等类型火山具有继承性演化关系。